My life in Nuclear Medicine at Regis College!

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Hello everyone! My name is Meagan Harrington and I am a student in the Medical Imaging program with a concentration in Nuclear Medicine at Regis College. I graduated from Stonehill College this past spring and I received a Bachelor of Science in Health Science. I went to Stonehill with the intentions of becoming a math teacher but after my first healthcare class my sophomore year all of my plans changed. My favorite professor at Stonehill recommended I look into Nuclear Medicine as a career choice because it combines math, science, and healthcare all things that I love. You may be asking yourself what exactly is Nuclear Medicine? I asked myself this very same question when I first heard of Nuclear Medicine! Nuclear medicine technologists use safe, painless, and cost-effective techniques to image the body and treat disease. Nuclear medicine uses very small amounts of radioactive materials to diagnose and treat disease. My junior year at Stonehill I did an internship at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston in their Nuclear Medicine department and it solidified my decision to further my education in Nuclear Medicine. Regis College's Nuclear Medicine program had not yet been developed when I began my search for schools, but it was in the works. David Gilmore who is the director of the program here at Regis was the director of a very successful program out of Beth Israel Hospital and I knew I wanted to follow his program.
Our first week of classes was a very, very, very, busy week! We had two quizzes and one test! The three classes we are required to take this semester are Nuclear Medicine Essentials, Nuclear Medicine Procedures and Technology, and Radiation Science and Instrumentation. We are also required to do one day of clinicals on either Monday or Friday of every week. On Friday we got our clinical assignments and I couldn't be more excited! I was assigned to Massachusetts General Hospital, and I start on Monday September 17th. I can't wait to start there and update you on everything I have learned! Other than my lack of sleep and my excitement towards being at Mass General Hospital I don't have much more to share with you yet, but I can promise I will after my first clinical visit!
I can't wait to keep you updated!
-Meagan